


Journey

by forgetme



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, Nostalgia, Post-Chapter 700, Road Trips, Slice of Life, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-10
Updated: 2015-07-10
Packaged: 2018-04-08 16:51:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4312842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgetme/pseuds/forgetme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kakashi and Gai go on that road trip with Mirai.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Journey

Sunshine greets them at the village gate. Gai’s wheelchair glints like a polished blade – Kakashi is sure it contains many, Tenten had her hands in the “fine tuning” of all of Gai’s models so far, this one won’t be an exception. It’s a new one, much, much lighter than Gai’s sturdy home model. The wheels are angled towards the seat and… well, it makes Kakashi cringe. Next to him Mirai pulls a face.

“This is a sightseeing tour, right? We’re not going to get into fights?” She looks from Kakashi to Gai as if she isn’t sure which of them is to blame for this. “The mission was listed as a D-Rank when I signed up.”

“Mirai-chan! You’re a chûnin! You should aim higher than D-Rank missions!”

“No fights if we can help it.” Kakashi nods, pretending he didn’t hear Gai’s interjection and deliberately ignoring Mirai’s pout. The sky above is a frail azure. He hopes the weather will hold until nightfall when they should arrive at their first stop.

“ _If_ we can help it!” Gai’s triumphant tone makes Kakashi sigh. He knows exactly what it means.

When they finally pass through the gate, he hears the girl mumble, “And this looked like so much fun, too…” as Gai starts to whistle under his breath.

* * *

 

“Oooh,” goes Gai for what Kakashi is sure must be the tenth time by now, “if only I hadn’t brought all my savings! This sack of money is so heavy, I can barely carry it.”

The elderly man on the ox-drawn cart in front of them shoots them a suspicious look over his shoulder.

“He doesn’t have any money! There’s no money here! We’re very poor and very strong! Believe me, you don’t want to mess with us!” Her frantic exclamation earns Mirai a raised eyebrow, but she exhales in relief when the old man turns away again. For a few seconds the forest’s quiet is only interrupted by the occasional sounds of birds.

“Back in the day, this place used to be brimming with bandits …” Yes, the disappointment in Gai’s voice is palpable. Kakashi looks over at him… and down. Fifteen years and yet he’s still not quite used to it. When Gai is by his side he expects him to be right there, at eyelevel. But he is not. So Kakashi tips his head and watches the light that breaks through the canopy above shimmer across Gai’s bowl cut.

“You don’t think the fact that we’re clearly all shinobi might discourage them a little?” he asks.

“Also, the former Hokage is walking right next to you, Gai-san. Not exactly an easy target…”

“Hmpf, cowards.” Steadily and with deceptive ease Gai’s hands work the rails on the wheels of his wheelchair. He is quiet for a bit. Rubber tires whisper across the leaves on the ground. The sound reminds Kakashi of the way his fingers used to tingle when he flipped through pages of Icha Icha. Achingly familiar.

“Hey, Kakashi, do you remember the time we fought those missing nin from Iwa? Wasn’t that around here somewhere?”

It takes him a second to return to the present. “Hm… Was that when Asuma made you suck the poison out of that cut on Genma’s foot?” So many of his memories have turned into grainy pictures, sound- and colorless, still lives painted at the bottom of an ocean, but in this case he can still remember the way Gai gagged while Genma cursed.

“Yes! I bravely saved his life while you two just stood idly by!”

“I don’t even think that kunai was poisoned to begin with…”

“What?!” Gripping the rails on his wheels with both hands, Gai comes to an abrupt halt.

Kakashi knows he’s grinning, knows Gai knows despite the mask and finds himself unable to stop. He forces himself to stare at some invisible point behind the horizon, just to keep himself from meeting Gai’s eyes.

Thankfully, Mirai-chan is there to break the tense moment. “Wait!” She steps in front of Kakashi. Her eyes have gone wide. "You were here with my dad? And you fought those missing nin together?”

“Yep.”

“I’ve never heard this story before! Can you tell me? Please?” The kid can make some serious puppy eyes. Kakashi smiles, thinking, _She’d have you wrapped around her little finger, Asuma…_

Over the years he’s gotten so used to the ache in his heart that he almost doesn’t feel it anymore.

“Sure,” he says.

* * *

 

They spend the first night at a small inn. Kakashi gets them two rooms on the 1st floor. They’re still deep enough in Fire Country for the title of Rokudaime Hokage to count – even with the Seventh already in office.

Kakashi shares with Gai. They take turns in the bathroom. Gai goes first and when he does, Kakashi doesn’t listen too closely. He’s never asked how Gai does it or how hard it is. As long as Gai manages, it’s not his place. It would be crossing a line.

But he has wondered. Lying awake at night, he has taken stock of his everyday life; he has made mental lists of all the little things he does without thinking and how not being able to stand or move his legs would transform them. How they would twist and warp, tiny pebbles turning into giant boulders.

By the time Kakashi gets out of the bathroom, the wheelchair stands empty next to Gai’s futon and Gai is already lying down, covers pulled up to his chest.

“You‘re not asleep yet, are you?”

Gai grins at him. “I’m wide awake!”

“Mind if I set up camp right here?” Kakashi asks as he drags his futon over to the free space next to where Gai made his bed. “It’s been a while since we bunked together.”

“Ha, you missed me!” Gai laughs, his face alight with the glee of having seen through Kakashi’s ʻhip and coolʼ façade. He’s right, of course, but Kakashi doesn’t give him more than a shrug.

“You know what they say, it’s lonely at the top,” he drawls and unrolls his futon on the tatami, leaving all of ten centimeters between his and Gai’s bedding.

* * *

 

They talk for hours. About this and that. The kids, being Hokage, the past, the future. Kakashi tells Gai how much he’s looking forward to spending his early retirement just lazing about. He grins to himself when Gai scolds him, vowing to challenge Kakashi every day to keep him on his toes.

Kakashi closes his eyes, listening to the rise and fall of Gai’s voice. He _has_ missed this.

At some point during the conversation his right hand slips out from under his blanket and comes to rest next to Gai’s, their pinkies touching in the narrow space between their bodies.

* * *

 

“I can’t believe we’re here already!” Mirai runs to the cliff, shielding her eyes with her hand to gaze out to the Great Naruto Bridge which towers majestically in the distance. “It’s pretty impressive.”

Gai wheels himself right to the edge. Kakashi thinks about the sharp rocks underneath the gentle waves below, but doesn’t say anything. Gai’s eyes are thoughtful. “It’s been a while since I’ve come to this place. How about you, Kakashi?”

“A few years.” Not that it has changed since then. A bridge is bridge. But he remembers a time when there was nothing here but the ocean and the sky blurring into an insurmountable blue.

_You changed something back then, Naruto…_

“Come on,” he tells his two companions. “We’re not here to only _look_ at it.”

* * *

 

The grave is different than he remembers. He doesn’t want to think too hard about it – _Kabuto_. Everything that has happened between then and now.

The sword is gone, of course. In its place is a simple stone marker. Placing it was one of Kakashi’s first orders as Hokage. He looks at it now and tries to see their faces in the characters cut into polished stone. It’s not as easy as it used to be.

They’re pale, faded. What Kakashi remembers is the feeling in his chest when he saw them again on the battlefield, a flare of fury, hot enough to incinerate bones.

What he remembers is a snowflake melting on cooling skin.

_I wish I could go where you are…_

Behind him Mirai and Gai are waiting, keeping their distance to give him privacy.

Kakashi takes a moment to bow his head and say a silent prayer.

* * *

 

Mirai unfolds her map. It’s new and shiny, completely up to date with all the recent developments. Looking at it makes Kakashi miss his old, dog-eared ones, the little notes he used to draw on them, marking unfamiliar territory.

She holds it up for Gai and him to see, tracing their path with her right index finger.

“So… we’re going to take the road east from here and then head back to Konoha through the mountains? That’s the plan?”

Kakashi follows her hovering fingertip with his eyes. In her hands the country looks small. Instantly, his eyes are drawn to the thick edges where Mirai has folded the map to show only the relevant parts.

He wants to go further, he realizes.

“I don’t know.” Kakashi makes a show of studying the map, scratching his chin through the mask. “I think I’d like to make this trip longer. There are a lot of places I’d like to see again. What do you say, Gai?”

Of course he knows what Gai’s answer will be. He knows that Gai thinks what he thinks and their short trip has shown that Gai can handle any terrain. It’s something that Kakashi has known for years, but seeing it with own eyes is still a surprise every time. No matter how much he doesn’t want it to be.

No, Gai hasn’t changed, when he sees borders, he the first thing he feels is still the need to cross them.

“Yeah!” His exclamation is as forceful as ever. Behind his mask, Kakashi smiles as warmth slowly unfurls in his belly. It’s been too long.

Fumbling with the map, Mirai-chan sighs the deep old-man sigh that never fails to remind Kakashi of Asuma. He looks at Gai and they exchange a wistful glance.

“I told mom I’d be back in a couple of days.” She opens the map further, revealing mountains, rivers, oceans, green, brown and blue, as colorful as a child’s drawing.

Kakashi leans closer, his eyes seeking memories. Already he can see their new route winding along old paths, into the distance.

“Sorry, kid, we’ll be on the road for a bit longer than planned. We’re heading west,” he says.

“Hahhh.” There it is again. Mirai brushes a hand through her hair. She shakes her head, probably dismissing any notions of arguing with stubborn old men. Too much effort. “I’d better write her a letter then. You know how worried mom gets.”

She does know what to say to make him feel guilty – a skill Gai never mastered, not in all their years together – Kakashi has to give her that.

* * *

 

The next inn they stop at is tiny, crowded with travelers and understaffed. When they walk in, all eyes are on them. The sound of their footsteps seems unnaturally loud on the polished wooden floor. Compared to that, the wheels of Gai’s wheelchair don’t seem to make any noise at all.

Kakashi nods at the man who has come running from behind the counter. He’s young, tall and gangly. There’s a red fingernail shape on his cheek where he must have cut himself shaving.

“I’m sorry,” the receptionist says, bowing deeply, “but I’m afraid we can’t really accommodate—“ He directs a guilty glance at Gai whose mouth quirks into the kind of smirk Kakashi has learned to fear.

A scene is the last thing he wants after a long day on the road, so he darts behind Gai’s chair and starts pushing him towards the staircase, all the while smiling at the flustered young man.

“It’s fine; we’ll manage.”

“Ah, but the rooms are all on the second floor. And our bathrooms don’t—“

“It’s fine, _really_.” _Shut up._ Kakashi doesn’t glare; he doesn’t raise his voice, he merely keeps pushing Gai until they’re at the foot of the stairs, leaving just enough room between the wheelchair and the first step to insert himself between them.

Gai scowls up at him, his eyebrows gathering like dark storm clouds. Behind him Mirai comes, dragging their luggage. She lets the backpacks drop to the floor and looks from Gai to Kakashi.

“Sooo…” She nods towards Gai’s wheelchair, miming the act of picking something up with her now empty hands. “Do you want me to…?”

“No, it’s easier this way.” Kakashi turns his back to them and goes down on one knee in front of the wheelchair. “Gai?”

“There’s no need for this. I can get up there on my own.”

Sure he can and Kakashi doesn’t need to look to know that Gai’s arms are folded across his chest in full defiance. However, Gai “walking” up those stairs on his hands, dragging his legs like some kind of weird insect—

Kakashi has seen him do it. He can’t argue that Gai – despite his handicap – is strong and agile enough to master any climb. Only, he’s not exactly low-profile.

_But then, you never really were, were you?_

The thought makes him smile.

“I know, but we’re standing out as it is.” Kakashi reaches behind himself, touching Gai’s right knee. He’s got some feeling left there, Kakashi thinks, although he isn’t sure. Gai never speaks about his injury. “Do me a favor? Put your arms around my neck.”

Seconds tick by. Kakashi’s shoulders tense. Gai’s temper has always been a force to be reckoned with. The more time passes the more sure he is that Gai will snort and wheel himself away in disgust.

“…Fine,” Gai grumbles finally. There’s the sound of him scooting forward in his chair. Kakashi leans back a little and then Gai’s arms wrap around his neck.

Gai smells like sweat and days on the road. Breathing in, Kakashi slips his hands into the hollows of Gai’s knees and lifts.

For years he’s been aching to carry this weight.

* * *

 

“What’s taking her?” Gai’s voice, accompanied by a hot gust of breath, caresses the shell of Kakashi’s ear.

“Relax.”

They’re on the second floor of the inn, a row of closed doors on each side of the brightly-lit hallway. Mirai is downstairs, no doubt bartering for a discount. She’ll bring the keys to their rooms, their luggage and Gai’s wheelchair as soon as she’s done.

Gai fidgets on Kakashi’s back. He plants his hands on Kakashi’s shoulders, pushing himself up. If he could, he would leap off, Kakashi is sure of that. As it is, his muscles tense and relax as though an electric current were running through them. Only his legs are limp, but the warmth of his skin soaks through the spandex. Kakashi can feel it in his hands and against his back.

“Gai… you’re acting like a brat. Although you’re such an old man…” he drawls, shifting his grip on Gai’s thighs.

“ _Old?!_ You’re the same age!” Too loud and too close to his ear. Kakashi tilts his head and grimaces under the mask.

“But I know how to conduct myself in a dignified manner.” He smirks. “Befitting a former Hokage.”

“Tch. They only made you Hokage because Tsunade-sama wanted to retire and Naruto was deemed too young at the time. If I hadn’t been at the hospital back then I would have fought you for the title!”

“Oh? That’s the first time I’m hearing this.”

“Yeah! You were lucky, Kakashi! Put me down and I’ll show you—“

Gai squeezes Kakashi’s shoulders in a way that’s slowly starting to border on painful. If he could move his legs, he would probably kick Kakashi too.

_You’re really troublesome._

Kakashi takes a few steps down the hallway. He thinks he can hear Mirai’s voice coming from downstairs. Somewhere a door is slammed shut.

“Gai. Be quiet for a second, okay? We’re disturbing the other guests.”

“Hmpf.” Gai’s arms wrap around his neck this time, lightly. It’s a loose embrace, but Gai finally relaxes against him.

_I already know, you know?_

_That I couldn’t have made it this far without you._


End file.
